We want to groom a whole generation of young leaders, Dharmendra Pradhan tells BJP meeting

Union Minister and senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan chaired a late night meeting with some BJP leaders who are upset after the party denied them ticket in Belagavi on Saturday. He met leaders Sanjay Patil, Dhananjay Jadhav, Murughendragouda Patil, among others. Mr. Pradhan said that he was conveying a message from the party high command and asked them to work in a united manner for the party nominees. “We want to groom a whole generation of young leaders. The BJP does not believe in dynasty politics,” he said.

Union Minister and senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan chaired a late night meeting with some BJP leaders who are upset after the party denied them ticket in Belagavi on Saturday.

He met leaders Sanjay Patil, Dhananjay Jadhav, Murughendragouda Patil, among others. Mr. Pradhan said that he was conveying a message from the party high command and asked them to work in a united manner for the party nominees. “We want to groom a whole generation of young leaders. The BJP does not believe in dynasty politics,” he said.

“He also told us that we should not be misled by a few leaders who are quitting the party for selfish reasons,” one of the leaders, who attended the meeting, said.

“You should remain united and work for the party and not individual candidates, as the party is always bigger than individuals,” Mr. Pradhan told the meeting.

Member of Legislative Assembly Abhay Patil, who spoke after the meeting, said that those leaders who are leaving the BJP to go to the Congress are ruining their own future. “The Congress is lying to all such leaders only to entice them to join the party. The Congress will use and throw them once its job is done,” he said.

However, Mr. Pradhan did not meet the former Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who quit the BJP to join the Congress.

Mr. Savadi was in Athani, meeting Congress aspirants who were denied ticket to accommodate him.